December 23 - 30 1997
25 Kislev - 2 Tevet 5758 (Jewish calendar)

Jews celebrate Hanukkah by lighting candles each night in a menorah, an eight-branch candelabra with a ninth, elevated branch known as a shamash. The shamash candle, which is lit first, is used to light the others candles each night of the holiday. Celebrants also might exchange small gifts throughout Hanukkah. Children play with the dreidel, Yiddish for "top." It's a spinning top marked with four Hebrew letters that stand for the words "A great miracle happened there."